Place Card Holders in 5 Minutes

I've been on a craft high the past week and today's offering is a quick and easy one.  The supplies are minimal and you may even have everything you need around the house.

I must warn you these are like potato chips...once you've made one you'll want to make a ton of them.

I had cut some larger limbs around the yard this summer and saved a few "just in case".  I cut several wood rounds not being careful about the exact thickness.  They are all all pretty close to being the same and if you prefer you can put a "fence" on your saw to insure each round is the same.

I picked these sparkly ornaments at the store HL I think, I do know they were 1/2 off so for six place card holders my out of pocket was less that $3.00.

One glop (technical term) of hot glue and a quick set of an ornament on top and your half way to the finish line.

When I positioned the ornament on the glue I did some straight up and others I tipped slightly on their side.

This process took less than a minute.  I mean this is a quick project.

I used a semi soft gauge wire to make the place cards.  I just twisted it around my finger, again I'm not an "exact" type person and dipped it in the glue pot and slipped each wire into the top of the ornament. 

Since this wood was just cut late this fall and isn't dry I glued a button on the center bottom of each piece of wood so that the "green" wood wouldn't touch any surface.   

 I had company for the weekend and used one of these in the guestroom as a welcome.

So my friends, check your craft room today and get started on these little gems, quick, easy and economical.  A great little gift for those who love the holidays as much as we do.

This was a wonderful project I found originally here.

Merry Christmas 

from 

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Pinterest Pick

I saw this wonderful idea on Pinterest a few weeks back and knew immediately I had to take a stab at it.  click here.  My rendition is a little different because of  the space I wanted to use this idea in.  I have a post in my front yard that always holds a sign of some sort and I knew this one was perfect for this time of year.

We had a lot of snow fall in the month of November but by the time I got this project finished much of it had melted so this picture shows some of our winter yard with only a couple of inches of snow, not the 30+ we had the week before.  Timing is everything I guess, normally in the winter you wouldn't see the rod that is behind the sign because of snow. I had a couple of friends ask what it was for, the answer is to keep the sign from swinging wildly in the wind.

So...this is how I made my sign.

I was out scouting for something the right size to make my sign.  Eureka I found a brand new kitchen cupboard door at Habitat for $3.00  It was already painted white front and back with a coating that will hold up in our Michigan Christmas weather.

I used my Cricut to cut out the letters and snowflakes.  I applied them to the white door, they will be removed after the red and will leave the white letters you see above. I did a light sealer coat of white paint    over all the vinyl and door frame to help with bleeding in the next step.

This would provide the white lettering you see on the finished sign once the vinyl letters were removed.

Next was a coat of an exterior Red paint over everything but the outside frame.  This was applied right over the vinyl and the door.  It took two coats to cover the white with the red.

 

You can see the outline of the vinyl lettering under the red paint.  I let it dry overnight and then peeled the vinyl away leaving the white lettering underneath. Even with the white coat to seal the letters before applying the red there was way more bleeding of the red than I had expected.

I used a small brush and a little of the white paint to clean up the bleeding then used three coats of poly sealer to finish the project.

This is a great project concept and I think I'll do something similar for spring using my Cricut. I am in no way gifted with the ability to paint freehand so using the above process to make lettering that looks semi professional worked for me.  Stencils could also be used or if you have the gift of freehand this would be an easy project.

Merry Christmas 

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"Stop By" Easter Thank You

Our traditional Easter brunch has been set aside this year as my husband will spend the day in the hospital and therefore so will we.

I have been invited to a couple of homes for a "stop by" during the day and I needed to come up with a little thank you to leave behind.  I stopped at the floral supply and picked up little flowers to plant in some leftover bunny cups from last years Easter season.  How To Make Bunny Cups.

I plan to put them in clear plastic gift bags and tie with raffia on Sunday before I deliver them but today they are out on the deck enjoying our nice sunny day.

 

 

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Christmas Card Holder

While spending my daily allotment of Pinterest time this week I came across a PIN that gave me an idea to  Book Card Holder  re-purpose another project I had gleaned off of Pinterest last year.  I wasn't really in the mood to spend another evening folding pages in a book so I went downstairs and dug through the discarded crafts and found two books that were perfect for a vertical Christmas Card holder and the best part was they were ready to go with just a new ribbon. 

Here is my version

I just love the buttoned ribbon on this project another Hobby Lobby find.

Porch Table

I built this table a few years back to add extra seating on our porch.  It seats eight comfortably and in a pinch can seat ten.  It was painted white for a few years then I switched to black and now I'm trying a combination of black and white.  I may eventually paint the legs white but for now I've just repainted the top which was very much in need of a face lift.

This was another idea I pinned from Pinterest here and I love the fresh summer look of the table with just the soft blue lines against the white background in a grain sack pattern.  I may eventually use the same technique on the chair seats but for now I'm happy with just the table sporting the grain sack look. 

Here is how I did it...

First I primed and painted the top of the table in a soft white, nothing remarkable about this part of the project. The pinner used AS paints, I just used regular paint from Lowes.

Next I broke out the frog tape to start laying out my pattern.  I started with a large strip in the center and they just worked my way out just randomly using different size lines.  There was no math involved in this project just what looked pleasing to the eye.

 I've found the best way to insure that you have razor sharp lines when using tape is to go back over the tape with a light coat of your base paint after you have determined your pattern.  This seals the tape and if there is any bleed through its unnoticeable, this only need be a very light application. You will have perfect lines every time. Remember to remove the tape as soon as you are finished so that the paint layers don't adhere the tape to the project.

Well I can't believe I didn't take a picture of the blue lines that made up the grain sack effect but sometimes I just get in such a big hurry with a project I forget and since I'm not a class A photographer sometimes its just better that way.  After the paint was dry I used a couple of coats of clear wax to protect the tabletop.

So this was just a simple project that took about half and hour. This completes my porch table and chair project at least for now.  I do have two other pieces on the porch that need attention and now have to decide if I want to continue with a similar pattern or head in another direction.

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Update on Porch Chairs

I finished the chairs (at least for now) a couple of weeks ago.  I may add either a cushion or a painted seat to them later this summer but for right now I'm enjoying the simplicity.

I decided to give an idea I saw on Pinterest and fell in love with.  It was so simple to do and gave the chairs just the little boost I was looking for.

I started with a Martha Stewart stencil of a bee.

 Next was the recommended vinyl spackling.

The process is so easy, I just found the center of the chair back and aligned the center of the stencil on the chair back.  I didn't bother to tape the stencil down as mine was so small but if you are using a larger stencil I would recommend using some painters tape to secure it to the chair. Using a 2" spackling knife I laid down a layer of spackling, how thick a layer is a matter of preference. My first try proved to be a littler more pronounced than I wanted so I just scraped off the spackling and started again.

After the spackling had dried I knocked down the sharp edges with a little sandpaper and then just did a dry brush technique with the same color of paint as the chairs were.  The results are very muted but just what I was looking for.

 

 As I said for right now I'm just using pillows as accents but may add a little something to the seat later.

Next is the table, its finished and I'm in love with it. Again, it was an idea from Pinterest, so many talented people out there and so little time to try all the wonderful ideas.

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Peat Pot Project for Easter

I like many of you am addicted interested in Pinterest and find fabulous ideas to use in my home.  The one I'm sharing today is so easy and I can't wait for the end results in a couple of weeks. 

These little gems can be used for many Easter projects and are just as simple as one, two three to make.  I did this project yesterday but because I decided to plant grass seed in them I won't actually have them finished for a week or two.  They are simple and super fast to make so if you need a craft project that doesn't take a long time this is a great one.

I stopped at our local farm supply store and picked up these cute little peat pots.  They had all different sizes and a couple of different shapes but I settled on these round four inch pots. They came in a package of 22 for $1.69

 I dry brushed them with AS paint to get them a rustic look and then applied a graphic I picked up off the internet, possibly from the Graphic Fairy.  For the graphic I taped a piece of white tissue paper to a regular piece of printer paper and ran them through my printer to get the bunny image. I cut around the outline of the graphic and then...

I applied the graphic to the pot with Mod Podge, the tissue paper sort of disappears into the the MP and you are left with just the image of the bunny.  I then put a thin coat of MP over the whole pot including the graphic.  I used two coats to get the look I was after.  

I decided to plant some rye grass seed in my pots to use as individual table decorations for a dinner I'll be hosting for the holiday. I used regular potting soil and some rye seed from our local hardware store.  It grows super fast and should be sprouting in just a few days. They're not much to look at right now but in a week or so the grass will be up and beginning to fill in the whole container.

 Because the peat pots have a whole in the bottom for water drainage I cut down some coffee filters to fit in the pots to allow the water to drain out but not the soil.   

One filter pushed into the bottom of each of the pots should do the trick of keeping all the soil in the pot and not washed down the drain.  

Sorry I don't have the finished product to show you today with the grass in full bloom but that would take some pre planning and I just am not that organized this month so I'll post a picture of the pots in a couple of weeks.  These would also be darling with Easter candy or forced bulbs for spring and I'm sure a dozen or so other uses too.

Thanks for the great idea from My Hearts Song

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Bay Leaf Wreath

Its snowing....did you hear the distinctive whine in my voice?  Since getting out the past few days hasn't been that appealing I've been working on some small projects and this bay leaf wreath is one of them.

I made a trip to Penzy last week, love that store and as I slogged around in my big snow boots I picked up a bag of bay leaves to give a wreath a whirl.  I think the cost of the bag of leaves was around two dollars and with another Dollar Store grapevine wreath as a base I've got three dollars total in this project.

I won't bother with a tutorial, I mean really...just fire up the glue gun (or in my case the glue pot) and start at the back with some larger leaves and work around the grapevine and then move in with another layer. Continue tucking in leaves here and there until your pleased with the look. Here is the boxwood wreath I did before the holidays

 

The wreath is sitting in my kitchen and for a couple of days its smelled wonderful, now the fragrance is mostly gone but it still looks pretty against the white snow outside.  Only down side to this particular project is its very fragile.

Happy Weekend Everyone

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Mini Boxwood Wreaths

 My first trip to Williamsburg, VA. at Christmas more than 20 years ago  was inspired by the natural decorations that were everywhere. I came home determined to have my own yard filled with the natural boxwood and holly that I saw in nearly every display.  My favorite of course was the beautiful magnolia leaves they used but living in Michigan this was definitely not in the cards. That spring I planted several boxwood and holly bushes and they have thrived.  Along with many evergreens I have an abundance of greenery to use at Christmas.

This year I decided to make several mini boxwood wreaths to hang on the backs of chairs in my kitchen eating area.  This was so easy and I had six of them made in less than a hour.

I started with mini twig/grapevine wreaths from the Dollar Store.

I cut the boxwood into pieces that were about three inches long.

I used a glue pot to dip the individual pieces in and then attach them to the wreath base.  My first pass was in the middle of the wreath and then I filled in the front and back as needed until I was satisfied that each wreath was full enough. 

The great thing about boxwood is that it will last for months so if you want to keep a few decorations around the house for the winter months a boxwood decoration will last.

I'm working on a woodland tablescape for a brunch and felt the boxwood wreaths would add just the right touch to the chairs.  They are simply tied to the backs of the chairs with a little burlap ribbon.

Happy Holidays to all.

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Nutty over wreath

Last Christmas...yes I said Christmas 2011 I had a bowl full of holiday nuts leftover.  You know the kind I mean, you get them every year from someone who really doesn't know you but feels they need to give you something.  I just couldn't throw them away so a wreath was born, of course this particular wreath lent itself to fall so its been sitting around just waiting to show its "stuff" until now.

I started as I said with a bowl of nuts, two Dollar Tree wreaths and a bolt of burlap ribbon that has finished edging.

I glued the two wreaths together to make a more substantial depth to the wreath.  I didn't take a picture of this because really....who couldn't figure this part out.

Next I took a bolt of finished edge burlap ribbon that I picked up at the floral wholesalers some time back.

I wrapped the ribbon around the wreath and secured it with stick pins.  Since I might want to use the ribbon again sometime I decided not to glue it permanently to the wreath.

After that I started gluing the nuts on starting at the outside and working in.  It dawned on me as I was writing all this that what was the point of pinning the back so the ribbon could be reused when I GLUED the nuts on the front.  Maybe tomorrow will be a better day for me in the logic department.

This was my favorite part in all the gluing, I found a walnut that was so perfectly broken in half  that I put it front and center on the wreath.

I used two floral pins as the wreath holder and secured them in the foam wreath with more hot glue.  

 

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